Background
Founded in 1882, Brighton Grammar School (BGS) is an Anglican school for boys with approximately 1270 students, based in the suburb of Brighton in the south east of Melbourne, Australia. The Grammarian is the School's yearbook, produced annually as a keep sake for students/parents and members of the greater BGS community. It also provides a valuable easy to access history record for the School's archives.
Solution
Working with illustrator Marly Gallardo to develop the theme for the yearbook was exciting. 2015 was the second year for the new Headmaster and a continuing strategy. Working closely with Marly, a theme relating to the academic progress of the school was created that showcased the 'Raising the Bar' attitude the School focused on in 2015. A stylised character was created, holding up books as weights.
Using the refreshed BGS visual style guide that we have been working closely with the School on, the contents of the yearbook were then fleshed out. As the book was very large, we divided the book into 10 sections that acted as section headers. Marly created the illustrations for these headers that related closely to the contents in each section.
High resolution photography and custom written content was laid out using a flexible grid system. The book was laid out using this grid, flexible enough to allow each page to look different and keep the audience engaged. Adding head shots of 1265 boys and over 200 staff to the Roll call was a challenge. A custom Java Script was created that automated the process, creating significant time and cost savings for the School.
Results
The Grammarian 2015 became a valuable keepsake for the School. It is an example of how improved design and production added value to the BGS community, engaged the boys, staff and parents and ensured the Grammarian will be used as a historical resource for years to come.
